Fans weigh in on what Penn State coach Bill O'Brien should tackle over the next 100 days

View full sizeJoe Hermitt. The Patriot-NewsNow that Bill O'Brien is officially in State College, his to-do list is pretty lengthy.

For the past month, Bill O’Brien has handled the bulk of his Penn State head coaching duties remotely as he pulled double duty game-planning for the New England Patriots.

That changed on Tuesday, when O’Brien arrived in State College fresh off a heartbreaking Super Bowl defeat to the New York Giants, but ready to begin full-time, in-the-flesh tenure as the 15th head football coach in Nittany Lions history.

Now that the head coach is officially in the house, we polled a selection of different stakeholders about what they’d like to see Penn State football’s new commander-in-chief to accomplish in his first hundred days in State College — a span of time that takes us all the way into the middle of May.

Reestablish the Penn State brandAs a Penn State alum (class of 2004), Harrisburg native Daniel Solomon said the fallout Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal made him realize that the heralded Penn State brand is not indestructible.

That’s why he’d like to see O’Brien direct some attention toward restoring “the pride, passion and tradition that was always there.

“The one thing fans were worried about was how fast that could slip away. I started to see it slip away in four days,” Solomon said. “But I think the fan and alumni base is strong, and tradition can be restored fully, it just has to be done by the right person.

“The Blue-White game has always been a big event, and O’Brien’s main goal between now and then is to continue to stabilize the program the way he has been doing. Just lead by example, having players see his example and having the plays do the right things, stay out of trouble, get good grades, work hard in practice and be involved in various charities. That’s important in restoring the name and having people realize this was one man’s doing and it wasn’t the university or the staff or the students.” Build relationships with your teamOver the course of a coaching career that’s spanned decades and stretched from high school football fields to NFL stadiums, Central Dauphin East football coach George Chaump has handled some rebuilding projects in his time. The Panthers’ coach said he wouldn’t dream of trying to tell O’Brien how to do his job, but he had one piece of friendly advice for the rookie head coach: “Forget the X’s and O’s, leave that to the assistants, but spend time with all the players you have there.”

“After coaching professionals, sometimes you forget that college ball is about these players in a formative period in their life,” said Chaump, who was a running backs coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1979-81. “Spend as much time as you can with every individual on the squad.Get to know their problems. The best point you can get across to them is that you do care about them. Show them you care about them and help them solve problems. Get the message across that, ‘I’m a football coach, but I care about you in all areas of your life.’”

Former Penn State center A.Q. Shipley, who’s moonlighted on the practice squads of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, echoed Chaump’s sentiments.

“He’s got to create an identity [for the team again]. Regardless of what that is,” Shipley said. “And ultimately, it comes down to the players. A coach can only do so much. He needs to to come in and set the tone and manage the team well — which by all accounts I’ve heard, he’s pretty amazing at — but come spring ball, it’s time for the guys to step up.

“That’s what coaches do, they find those players and let them go out and lead. You have to find those guys early and often and let them take control of the team.”

Win the support of alums and the student bodyJoe Paterno was a beloved figure on campus, and while the students have expressed their desire to give O’Brien a chance, the ball is now in his court.

“I’d like to see him accepted by the student body,” said Fran Fisher, the Nittany Lions’ former play-by-play announcer. “I’d like to see him establish a rapport with the student body.”

Paternoville president John Tecce said he’s looking forward to getting to know O’Brien and wants to see him “just get out there and have a presence.”

“Penn State football doesn’t need to market to anybody, but at the same time, I think O’Brien is going to have to do a lot of what Joe Paterno did — making appearances, and getting to know the fan base,” Tecce said. “It’s important for us, having that experience and getting to know him.

“Even at an event like THON next weekend. For him to make an appearance in front of those thousands of people would be great.” Install the offense, and keep those recruits comingNext weekend is a big junior day for the Nittany Lions coaching staff. They’ll host a number of highly coveted high school juniors, and Solomon said it’ll be important for O’Brien to put on a good show.

“I saw an interesting stat recently that said that before O’Brien was hired, 75 percent of top recruits in the country said they would not want to go to Penn State because of the scandal,” Solomon said. “That number wouldn’t have been as high before. So his goal is to bring that percentage down, stabilize the program. Over the years [Paterno’s staff] let the Pennsylvania recruiting slip a bit, and I think keeping recruiting strong in the New Jersey and Washington areas, and stabilizing coaching contact in Pennsylvania would be important.

Tecce said he’d like to see O’Brien bring a good quarterback to State College.

According to the Paternoville president, some of the coach’s priorities should include: “Getting to know the players and their strengths and weaknesses, and figuring out how to run the offense. There are lots of weapons on offense that weren’t utilized to their potential.”

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